Composition for removing worn lubricant material



Patented Aug. 15, 1939 UNITED STATES COMPOSITION FOR- REMOVING WORN LUBRICANT MATERIAL Cyril s. Kimball, Brooklyn, N. Y.

No Drawing. Application February 18, 1936, Serial No. 64,601

2 Claims.

lubricant" is used, it shall be understood to mean e such a mixture. Before adding fresh lubricant it is necessary to remove the worn lubricating material. The elements employed in these instruments are often so delicate that they will be deformed or broken by the employment of even a small amount of force upon them and the cleaning agent accordingly must be a liquid into 20 which they may be dipped.

An object of the invention therefore is a composition of matter which will dissolve, or disperse worn lubricant material fromsmall gears, springs, pinions and other working parts of deli- 25 cate instruments.

Another object is a cleaning material for the purpose recited which will dissolve, or disperse all oils and gums, thereby removing also particles of dust or of metal which are imbedded in 30 the gum or oil withoutin any way injuring'the material of the parts being cleaned.

Another object is a composition which will remove stains and discolorations from the articles being cleaned without any etching or eating away 35 of the substance thereof.

Another object of this invention is a cleaning composition which will'not only clean and brighten the metallic portion of the delicate parts of instruments, but will leave upon them a very thin 40 coating which will protect them from rust or the action of corrosive gases.

Another object of the invention is to produce a composition which will dissolve or disperse in water by vigorous reaction between some of the 45 component ingredients thereof.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter;

The invention accordingly comprises a product possessing the features, properties and the *relation of componentswhich will be exemplified in the products hereinafter described and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims. The invention and its use will now be described as applied to watch parts, but this is not to be understood as a limitation to that use, but as 5 adopted merely for convenience of description.

The technique of cleaning watch parts as at I present practiced is to prepare a sufiicient amount of a solution of cleaning material such as a soap, tostring the parts to be cleaned upon a fine wire or place them in wire baskets and swish them around in this cleaning solution until they are thoroughly clean. Then to wash them in petroleum naphtha, benzol, or other volatile liquid which displaces the aqueous solution ofcleaning material. This complete displacement of water from the parts aids in preventing corrosion. The parts are then thoroughly dried, but readily tarnish unless protected from the air and moisture by an impervious film.

v The composition of matter I have invented is an intimate mixture of finely divided dry substances which maybe merchandizedeither in bulk, as a dried powder, or pressed into tablets, or enclosed in camules of convenient weight. An example of my composition is as follows:

Per cent Commercialsodium dodecyl-sulphate 40 Stearic acid, finely powdered 10 so ,Citric acid, powdered 15.9

Sodium bicarbonate 34.1

Suitable amounts of this mixture are suspended in Water and aqua ammonia added thereto in proportions which will be disclosed below. f

The materials are mixed and finely ground together. The capsules in which it is enclosed should be quickly soluble, although the'use of the ordinary gelatine capsules is not inhibited. In case the capsules are not freely soluble they can 40 serve merely as containers of desired amounts and the material be emptied out of them for use. Tablets when prepared from this material weigh conveniently 1.25 grams, the capsules contain 1.15 to 1.30 grams or 18 to 20 grains, net weight.

. Duponol ,is-a trade-name for a preparation of sodium dodecyl, or lauryl, sulfate designated here- 'inafter as commercial sodium dodecyl sulfate.

Analysis of typical products of the type are given in a communication by Biffen and Snell in Industrial 8: Engineering Chemistry, Analytical Edition, volume '7 pages 234 to 237. In addition to the'lauryl compound it contains also other sodium alkyl sulphates such as those of caproyl, caprilyl, myristyl, stearyl, oleyl and palmityl sulphates in varying amounts, depending upon the composition of the parent material from which the substance is obtained. All of these materials belong to the class of sodium alkyl sulphates. The proportions of these substances vary and in some samples of the product some may be entirely absent. Duponol is a dry flaky solid, soluble in water, which solution can form a lather even when acidified. It is prepared at present in atleast three grades, namely:

Commercial sodium dodecyl sulfate Duponol WA Double Concentrated Duponol ME Dry I prefer to use Duponol WA concentrated in my composition, but the other concentrations can also be used. In my composition it plays the part of an emulsifier and wetting agent. It wets the surfaces of the parts and emulsifies the oil so that it can be more easily dissolved and removed by the other portions of the composition.

Suitable materials are on the market under various trade names, Gardinol, Avirol, and Ieepon.

The sodium salts of all sodium alkyl sulfates of high molecular weight have similar properties and may be substituted for Duponol in my prepa ration, as well as their fully equivalent potassiumsalts.

The stearic acid in my preparation is insoluble in water, but when the preparation is mixed with aqua ammonia, a soap is formed, ammonium stearate, which is soluble in water. This soap, when freely exposed to the air as upon the surface of the watch parts, decomposes, setting free stearic acid. This acid reacts with the brass parts of the watch parts, forming a film of copper stearate thereupon, which is adherent and protects the brass from oxidation. I believe a similar film is formed upon the other metals of the watch.

Instead of stearic acid, other fatty acids, as

palmitic acid and the fatty acids known in solid form can be used in my composition.

The sodium bicarbonate of my composition has detergent properties of itself and also the property of modifying the pH of the solution.

The main function of the citric acid is that it may react with the sodium bicarbonate to set free carbonic acid gas, and thus by the expansion of that gas disrupt the tablets when the composition is in tablet form, and by the consequent agitation hasten the solution of the material when it is in powder form or in capsules. The sodium citrate resulting from this reaction has detergent properties of itself. Since the other aliphatic acids of a less number of carbon atoms have the same effect, either of them may be substituted for the citric acid. The recitation of acid of not to exceed six carbon atoms covers this substitution.

An advantage of this composition is that not only the complete composition, but various subcombinations of the ingredients have utility for various uses.

The sodium alkyl sulfate is the most important because of its wetting powers, and its ability to emulsify the oils upon the watch parts. Thus the composition prepared for merchandising may contain only the sodium alkyl sulfate and stearic acid, since the alkyl sulfate will wet the watch parts and emulsify the oil, and, when the ammonia is added the soap will form, decompose, and the stearate then unite with the metal to form a film of metal stearate to protect the parts from oxidation.

It is also readily seen that the mixture can be prepared for market in liquid form, in which case the ammonia will be added in proper amount when the material is prepared at the factory.

If the nature of the metals to be cleaned is such as not to make the production of a protective film necessary, only the sodium alkyl sulfate and ammonia may be used, and, when the strong detergent effect of the ammonia is not necessary, only the sodium alkyl sulfate and sodium bicarbonate may be used.

The method of use of my composition is as follows: Disintegrate one tablet or one capsule or alternatively the contents of one capsule in onehalf glass (about four liquid ounces) of water, then add one liquid ounce of 16 B. aqua ammonia. The agitation by reaction of the citric acid and sodium bicarbonate is helpful in promotion of rapid solution and disintegration.

The usual aqua ammonia of commerce is of about 26 B. strength. The ordinary household ammonia is of about 143 B. The strength of the ammonia to be used with my composition is not critical but the proportion given above is preferable. The final solution is approximately equivalent to an ammonia solution of 11.25 B. The optimum limits lie between 11 and 12 B. When the mixture is in loose powder the amount used should be weighed to correspond with the amounts given above.

The material may be made up in stock solution when six capsules or from 6.3 to 7.8 grams of loose powder are added to one quart of water and eight ounces of 16 B. aqua ammonia added. If tablets are used, the water and ammonia should be proportioned to their weight.

The parts of the watch are strung upon fine wire or placed in wire baskets and vigorously moved around in this liquid until the worn lubricant is completely removed and the brass parts become bright. They are then washed in the solvents named above and dried. When ammonium stearate is exposed to air the stearic acid is set free and in the presence of metallic copper either alone or in an alloy, attacks the copper forming copper stearate. The brass parts of the watch then are covered by a film of copper stearate which gives to them a bright color and preserves them from oxidation. I believe that other metal parts are similarly covered with films of the corresponding stearate.

There are machines known for cleaning watch parts in which the parts are suspended or are placed in wire baskets and rapidly rotated first in a cleansing solution then in two vessels con taining naphtha or benzol and dried. My composition can be used advantageously in such machines.

Since certain changes may be made in the above product and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not as limiting.

I claim:

1. A composition of matter for removing worn or fouled lubricant materials from brass articles which consists of the reaction products of from 1.15 to 1.30 grams of a mixture comprising:

Commercial sodium dodecyl sulfate per cent 40 Stearic acid do 10 Citric acid do 15.9 Sodium bicarbonate do 34.1

and

Water ounces" 4 16 B. aqua ammonia do 1 2. A composition of matter which removes worn or fouled lubricant material from copper a1- loys and forms a. protective coating thereon when exposed to the air, which composition comprises an aqueous solutionoi the reaction products of a. sodium alkyi sulphate, stearic acid, citric acid, sodium bicarbonate in excess of the amount necessary to neutralize the citric acid and aqua ammonia in amount sufiicient to render the alkalinity equal to that oi an ammonia solution of between 11 and 12 degrees B.

CYRJL S. KIMBALL. 

